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The Spa Solution
A New Trend Promotes Healthy Lifestyles By Teri Brown
Most of us know what we need to do to live a healthier lifestyle. We know we should eat more fruits and veggies, more lean meats and fewer carbohydrates. We know we should get more exercise. We understand how important it is to relax and be reflective. The problem is finding the time!
"I took stock of my life and realized this was an opportunity to take a break and try to understand my overeating and move my life in a direction that was more fulfilling," says Hardy.
Hardy did what more and more people across the country are doing. She found a spa program tailored to helping her gain control of her life and eating habits. But the spa she entered, known as Structure House, is very different from what people have come to expect in a spa. It is a weight and lifestyle management program, not a typical spa.
"Some pampering services are offered, but the focus is on providing participants with concrete tools to help them manage their lives in a productive and fulfilling manner," says Hardy. "After much research, I knew this program, which included a psychological approach in addition to nutrition and fitness education, had a better possibility of providing me a long-term solution."
Structure House, located in Durham, N.C., has been in the weight loss business for more than 25 years.
"When I began my work in obesity in the early 1970s, there was little interest among the various professions to deal with weight loss in a serious way," says Gerard Musante, who founded Structure House in 1977. "In fact, I saw a definite bias against people who had a weight problem. It was my intention to develop an evidence-based program that approached the problem in a setting that was both residential and intensive."
